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Leader (1850-1860), 4th September 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 851

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      Untitled Article

      the day , " declines to interfere between workman and employer , " and altogether abdicates the function of an aristocracy . It retains the post without performing the duties . It consents to be the tool of an inferior class , the middle class ; and , without question , when that middle class shall hare attained its full power , it will throw away the class above it with as little scruple as it would foreclose a mortgage . In a natural view it is

      not the existence of aristocratic or family influence which is the true evil , but the existence of that influence without a corresponding performance of the duties . When our men of family become once more public men . more than official men , when they appeal more to national than to class interests , their influence will be not weakened but strengthened—not propped up by external aids and devices , but invigorated with renewed organic life .

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      THE ACTUAL POSITION" OF THE CONVOCATION QUESTION . Becent elections have placed the demand for convocation in a decidedly prominent position . However , the agitation may have been regarded as a duty by one party , and as vexation by another , during the past twelvemonth , it is now a " great fact ; " and whatever may be said or believed to . the contrary , it has in it a vital force which no amount of opposition can withstand . The success of the High Church party in the elections for representatives of the diocesan clergy

      has been both great and unexpected . The meetings of constituents have been larger than they have been for many years ; and the duty impressed on the clergy by their leaders has been acted up to with high spirit and determination . In the majority of contested elections they have been successful—so successful , that their opponents have raised the cry that the apparent victory is only a surprise . Thia may be true ; but it is one of the privileges of activity that it outstrips inertness ; and one of the rewards of alert vitality , that it is sure to succeed against apathetic indifference .

      Since we last wrote on this subject ,, great progress has been made in clearing the ground , and denning the actual position of the opponents of convocation . They do not now pooh pooh it , treat it with contempt , or pass it over in . silence . It lias been discussed in other daily journals besides the Morning Chronicle , and other weekly journals besides the Leader and the Guardian . The Times has ventured upon it , a sure sign of

      its prominence ; the Spectator and JSxaminer have dealt with it , certain indications that it is a rising topic . These journals descant on the " difficulties" attending the revival of Convocation , and deal with the question as to its expediency , not as to its justice or necessity . But with these we have nothing to do , further than to mention them as proofs of the growing fortunes <>( ' the agitation .

      We arc concerned with a sign far more important on this topic than a casual leader in a newspaper , —an archidiaconal charge , delivered by ( ho Reverend J . Garbett , archdeacon of Chi-< 'hester , on the 3 rd and 5 th of August . It is in thin masterly survey of tho question that we find a tolerably accurate definition of its actual position . Mr . Archdeacon Garbott contends , that either tho internal disruption of tho church of England , or her separation from the State , would inevitably follow tho revival of Convocation ; but while he ' ¦ onf ' esses that there are doctrinal controversies of the most vital character raging in tho church , Home of them tending directl y to " papal Roman-•« iu , " and while he admits the existence of

      dis-( 'ord , doubt , and perplexity , without end , he "li v- ertholess infers that it is far better to maintain the " status quo , " and endure " all our evils '" id defects" " with Huch palliations as practical ^ 'adorn can devise . " This places before the f 'lurch of Kngland the fair alternative , either to " » hihL on her right to Convocation and itH eon-, H ( 'Uueiice , honourable defeat or victory in the ordeal of reformation ; or endure the shame of opP' ^ 'ng it for tho sake of a hollow peace and a Meoining unity . Tho reverend gentleman who ^(¦ laime d the other day at one of tho elections , ^ uiel , n non inovero , ' uttered , it scorns , tho Wa tchword of his party .

      I ho question in , —can Churchmen lay their hands on their hoarts and way , —wo aro conscionj'ously satisfied with the state of tho Church an it ia p No , i ^ y cauno ( / > Evou Mr . Archdoacon

      Garbett admits that there are evils , anomalies , differences , discords , and " traditional parties among ourselves , " beside the dreaded- " leaven of Romanism fermenting among us . " He admits the evil , he denies , and steadily combats the proposed remedy . And why P Because , he says , the difficulties are great , the hazards greater , the possibilities , —nay , the probabilities , of ineffable disaster greatest of all . Convocation would break up the church , cut through the bonds which connect her with the state , and involve the clergy in an internecine war with the laity . He foresees , on the granting of Convocation , nothing less than an ecclesiastical revolution . "

      Yet even Mr . Garbett is prepared , all difficulties overcome , to agree to some kind of convocation which should be pretty tightly tied down by the royal licence to definite objects , and in which doctrinal discussions should be disallowed . But is not this veto which so many , even friends , are anxious to place upon theological discussion , a sign ominous of the internal state of the Church ? What shall we say ? If Convocation be forbidden to discuss doctrinal points , there must be some ground for the prohibition ; the danger of disunion we presume to be that ground . Therefore the opponents of Convocation , and even some

      friends of the movement , thus publicly confess that actual , but unofficially expressed , discord is preferable to a declared severance of opinion . But where is honesty meanwhile ? Is the Church one or many ? If one , whence the fear of discussion P if many , whence the honesty of her claim to be one ? There are false pretences somewhere . She comes before us officially with her full legal titles as One ; for is there not the Act of Uniformity P She comes before us unofficially , but with not the less influence and power , as more than one ; as , in fact , Exeter and Gorham , Blomfield and Eddowes Gladstone , to the great scandal

      of the nation . Is any one prepared to assert that simony does not exist in the Church ? Is any one prepared to assert that known " infidels" do not find lodging in the Church ? Is any one prepared to assert that Nepotism—Moores and Pretymans to wit—does not exist P Are not the Canons , as Archdeacon Garbett confesses , " a mass of practical absurdities ?" Is the rubric accepted b y all as satisfactory ? Are the thirty-nine articles themselves allowed to pass unquestioned , not by students anxious to enter the Church , but even by those who have taken holy orders P Is Church property on anything like a satisfactory footing , either as regards the clergy or the nation r These aro a few of many interrogatories which require to bo duly answered before the great question of the necessity for Convocation can be disposed of on the ground that it will break up tho Church , or separate it from the State . One word more . Archdeacon Garbott , in defending the supremacy of tho State , gives a fatal prominence to tho value to the Church of what no calls her " territorial recognition . " Hence the question arises , —Can the Church of England stand without the crutches of " territorial position , social status , endowment , " supplied by the State ? Is " territorial recognition " a " vital " condition of the existence of tho Church , and without

      it would tho " gospel become a mighty abstraction , a theme for eloquence , a philosophic theory ?" If so , let us have tho assertion confirmed by more competent authority , if possible , than the word of Archdeacon Garbett . So far gone , indeed , is the good Archdeacon in his love for the State , that he regards its protection as " the protection of Almighty God himself . "

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      HINTS TO N 10 W M . I VS . BY AN JOXIMCItJKNCKl ) " HTUANUNU . " ij r . * GicntTjIcmun , —If I have induced you to agree with mo that those men who go to the House of Commons only with a view to give gratification to their constituents aro almost cortain to be dead failures , 1 may rely upon your approval of the rules I would lay down for Parliamentary success . Ifc is certainly awkward that you cannot afford altogether to forget your constituents , inasmuch an you have to keep your eye on . your ro-olootion ; and , to a certain extont , I am bound to ad vino you to endeavour to please- thorn . Tho nature of tho compliment must bo entirely

      dependent upon the character of the electoral body of which you are the soul . If you result from a small constituency , you can plaase them best whether you come from a Lord Londonderry or a St . Albans—by returning or continuing the bribery they commenced ; with the individual , hj looking after the red ribbons and spare attacheships ; with tho hundred or two , by activity after the heads of the excise and customs departments ; and in discharging your obligations in these directions you may console yourself with the

      reflection that while you are convincing those who bought and those who sold you , that you were worth the transaction , you are not necessarily interfering with those pursuits wherein members win the applause of other members . If you are so unhappy as to have been exposed by the votes of a great town to all the anomalies accompanying the presence of a " popular member" in an oligarchical assembly , you will assuredly have a difficult card to play : and it is in particular for such members that these hints are

      intended . There are three courses open to you ; and it may be mentioned that Sir Robert Peel first discovered the great three courses carte of statesmanship when he sat for Oxford , which is even more unmanageable than a Hiding . You may take the attitude of Mr . Bright sitting for Manchester , stand up for your dignity as the voice of half a million , sneer at the country gentlemen , patronize the Minister , and get detested , accordingly . Or you may do as Sir Thomas Birch did , sitting for Liverpool ; never intrude in debate at all , dine with the Whigs , get plenty of

      patronage , and , after seven years , get summarily kicked out . These are the two extreme courses . But there is the compromise of delicate finesse whereby to satisfy Manchester and yet manage the House ; preserving your principles and gaining a hearing , and , so , really pushing your political objects within reach of tho leverage of office . Among the great Radical party , it is difficult to mention one man who fully illustrates tho wisdom of the latter course : but certainly , Mr . Bernal Osborne , whose Radicalism is as

      little open to doubt as that of Sir Joshua Walmsley , sets a tolerably good example of what a Tribune should be in the Capitol . A Tribune , however , who has been in the Guards , and who ^ ot the tone of " society" in other places than the " Reform Club smoking-room , does not come to hand to lead the people , every day ; and admirable as it is to see the light dragoon member for Middlesex " prancing into a debate in search of liberal forage , it will occur to Mr . Wm . Williams that much of Mr . Osborne ' s

      success is attributable to his having studied the first gentlemen in the world in their ladies' drawing rooms—in a word , to his understanding the nature of his opponents . Yet as the Cobdens seek the House of Commons and the encounter , they ought to try to comprehend the enemy , too—by opportunities at Bellamy's and in Westboiirneterrace , if " nous autrcs" " stem the tide of democracy" with street doors and domestic Lord Charles Russells in Bolgravia .

      What is true of one man among them is ' rue of the whole Radical party—tho liberal Irish members included . Miss Martiuoa / w , in her history , says that the glory of tho Radicals has been their individuality . " But take tho fates of tho men and their principles , and this individuality will bo found to have been their curse . Tho Kadicals have been-a number of men—they have never been a Parlia . rmMkt . ary party ; and while this has not advanced their cause , it has not even

      advanced themselves . Ah it is in our own day , so has it been since 18 : 55 -since : tho Mristocraey first recovered tho shock of the Reform Bill and discovered that they wore quite safe . We know what tho Radical ( in Parliament ) party , sometimes so called , now is , what it can do , and what it has recently done . We know , undoubtedly , that it talks very nearly tho thoughts of tho masses ; but wo know , assuredly , that its legislative results , direct or indirect , am very limited .

      Why V This Radical party- —thin number of men who would vote votes such as Whigs and Tories could not give—has never been lens than ono hundred strong—or , with the liberal Irish' ( na Lioiml ) members , a fourth of the working Houso of (' ominous . Its worth and its position are utterly disproportionate to its capacity for affectting divisions . Tim cause lies in tho fact that tho big towns select a superior class of intellectual men for their representatives : that , consequentl y , there is no rank and lilo—that is , no inevitable

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      September 4 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . _ j _

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      • Woo laudcr , JSoa . 125 , I ' M .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 4, 1852, page 851, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1950/page/15/